(Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS IN KAMLOOPS

City noting moderate use of bylaw easement around temporary overnight shelters

Jul 8, 2020 | 4:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops says a recent bylaw easement allowing for extended overnight camping in certain areas has been working well.

The easement is part of the measures taken to keep shelter spaces from overcrowding during the pandemic. But so far, the City says there hasn’t been a large demand for beds.

To prepare for people needing a distanced space to stay during the pandemic, the City worked with various social service agencies to set up an emergency shelter in Memorial Arena.

Housing and Homelessness Project Manager Ty Helgason says council also adjusted the rules around how long people experiencing homelessness can sleep in a public place. This was done to ensure people could properly distance to limit the spread of the virus.

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“As usual, individuals who choose to sleep outdoors, they still can’t sleep in any manicured city grounds — which would mean public parks. But they can sleep in any natural city grounds. So that would generally mean along the riverbanks for the most part.”

As long as people camping overnight keep the area tidy and don’t cause disturbances, they don’t have to vacate in the morning like they normally would. Helgason says the City plans to have this in place until at least the end of September.

Earlier in the year, Helgason says many campers were being mindful of keeping areas tidy to be able to stay in their spots. Before the rivers rose, there were up to 30 camps around the city at a given time, but Helgason says that has decreased to about 20 different spots.

“Now that the rivers aren’t as accessible, there really aren’t many places for people to camp. So we are seeing individuals accessing our shelter services, but we really haven’t seen the increased occupancy that we expected,” Helgason explains. “We’re not sure if people are using CERB funding to access market housing or hotels, or if people are just leaving the community for the summer. We’re not entirely sure where they’re going.”

However, Helgason says the City knows there have been situations where people weren’t following the new guidelines around keeping camping spaces tidy.

“It would be great if we could guarantee a perfect experience every time somebody went to the park. But with the amount of public space in Kamloops in general, we just can’t have a constant eye on it,” he says. “We just have services available to people when they are seeing activities that shouldn’t be going on in public spaces.”

The City adds that residents need to call bylaw services or RCMP if there are instances with vandalism, illicit drug use or other illegal activities in public park spaces.